Time suddenly seemed to freeze, yet the ticking of the clock never ceased to echo in our ears. Mi Cai had not spoken a single word throughout, and her silence left me anxious. Still, I didn’t push her, patiently waiting for her to figure out this matter she had to face.
Ten full minutes passed, and she still hadn’t spoken to me. Instead, she pulled out her phone from her handbag and dialed a number. I didn’t need to think twice to know she had called Weiran.
Shortly after, the call was connected, and Mi Cai finally spoke, confronting Weiran on the other end, “Why did you do this? We had an agreement, and you clearly said you wanted me to be happy. What exactly is this now?”
I didn’t know how Weiran responded on the other end, but I heard Mi Cai continue, “You don’t understand? I’m saying you went to find Zhao Yang and said some random things!”
Mi Cai’s tone suddenly became agitated, “You didn’t look for him? If you didn’t, why would he suddenly bring this up with me?”
I started to understand what they were talking about. Sure enough, Mi Cai handed her phone to me, saying, “Weiran wants to talk to you.”
My heart tightened, but since I hadn’t done anything wrong, I had no reason to avoid the call. I took the speakerphone-enabled phone from Mi Cai and immediately asked Weiran, “What do you want to say to me?”
Weiran’s voice sounded genuinely confused, “Betsy says I looked you up. Did that really happen? I don’t remember.”
I was momentarily stunned, then angrily asked, “What do you mean? Don’t you know whether you looked me up or not?”
“This is what I should ask you. Why are you slandering me in front of Betsy?”
“Can you be any more despicable?”
Unmoved, Weiran replied, “I get it. From the first time we met, you never liked me. You’ve probably been waiting for a chance to stab me in the back in front of Betsy. I’m curious, what lies have you concocted that made Betsy call me in such a rage? She’s always been so calm…”
I suddenly felt extremely nauseous and swore, “F*** you… You’re just a piece of sh*t eating in a septic tank!”
Weiran sneered, “How could Betsy have fallen for someone as low-class as you!”
My anger could no longer be contained. I squeezed the phone so tightly it creaked. Mi Cai had to use considerable force to pull the phone from my grasp. She said to Weiran, “I’ve more or less figured things out. You drank quite a bit at the party today. Get some rest.” Without waiting for a response, she hung up.
My emotions were still in turmoil. After a long silence, I pointed at my chest and asked Mi Cai, “Do you believe me? This time, I really didn’t lie to you!”
Mi Cai looked at me and simply said, “Let’s eat. The food will get cold.”
“Do you think I can eat now? Give me a straight answer. Do you believe me or not?”
Mi Cai shook her head, “No matter whom I believe between you two, it will hurt me. So until you have evidence that he met with you, I don’t want to believe either of you.”
Frustrated by this injustice, I raised my voice at Mi Cai, “Find evidence? Why don’t you ask him to find evidence proving he didn’t meet me? I’m your boyfriend. Why do you always side with him? Is it because you’ve been together in the U.S. for four years?”
“Zhaoyang, please calm down, okay? Your impulsive behavior really makes it hard for me to communicate with you!”
I tried hard to suppress my anger until I was sure I was calm enough, then said to Mi Cai, “Fine, you want evidence? Get Weiran’s photo ready. We’re going to that coffee shop where he met me. There must be a waiter who saw us.”
Mi Cai seemed eager to find the truth. Regardless of the late hour, she drove with me to the “Seaview Coffee” downtown.
…
Full of confidence, I hurried into the coffee shop as soon as the car stopped, pulling out a photo of Weiran from Mi Cai’s phone and handing it to the on-duty waiter, asking, “On May 13th, around 9 a.m., did you see me meeting the person in this photo at your coffee shop?”
The waiter took the photo, looked at it carefully for a moment, and replied, “I was on duty that morning, but I really don’t remember.”
I immediately added, “Please ask the other waiters who were on duty that day.”
The waiter nodded, called over two other waiters, and handed them the photo. I waited hopefully, wishing one of them could expose Weiran as a hypocrite and clear my name.
The two waiters examined the photo carefully, then shook their heads, “Sorry, sir, it’s been too long. We really don’t remember!”
I refused to give up, my voice rising, “You can see the parking lot outside your shop through the window. He drove a Ferrari that morning. How can none of you remember a tall, rich, and handsome man?”
Mi Cai, who had been silent, finally spoke, “Yes, if he really came, why wouldn’t any of the waiters remember him driving a luxury car and having such a distinguished demeanor?”
My head suddenly felt like it was exploding, as if I had fallen into an inescapable abyss, unable to explain myself further. I could only stare at the three waiters, hoping one of them would suddenly remember that I had met Weiran there… but I was disappointed. None of them spoke again, going back to their work… Standing beside me at the counter, Mi Cai seemed lost. I was completely stunned, muttering to myself over and over, “I’m innocent.” Mi Cai had already left the coffee shop before me. I knew, at this moment, her trust was beginning to tilt.
…
Back at the apartment, Mi Cai silently went into her room. The table of food, once still warm, gradually turned cold. I finally felt a sense of irony. Why had I suddenly become the hypocrite when Weiran was clearly the one…
I was angry, I was frustrated, but I didn’t know how to convince Mi Cai to believe me. Thinking back, since we met, I had always used little tricks to play with her. But Weiran had been a constant source of healing warmth in her life over the five years they knew each other. Even without the coffee shop incident, Mi Cai probably trusted him more. After all, I had a history of bad behavior, and she hadn’t confronted me about it directly, which was already her showing me respect… But this was really f***ing frustrating. I hated this feeling of being unable to defend myself! I felt like I was going crazy…
Late at night, Mi Cai and I each slept in separate rooms, and I felt our hearts drifting further apart, which filled me with a sense of crisis. I wanted to knock on her door several times to talk, but I gave up. Without absolute evidence, any explanation would be futile. But I was panicking and really wanted to talk to her. So I chose to send her a text message, since this method of communication was relatively simple and might be suitable for us at this time when we both needed to calm down.
“Are you asleep? Let’s talk for a while.”
From the moment I sent the message, it felt like a stone sinking into the ocean. I received no response from Mi Cai. Maybe she saw it but didn’t want to reply, or maybe she had already fallen asleep after the long day. In any case, without a response, I was completely immersed in endless loneliness, suffering bitterly…
…
The next morning, I received a call from Feng from Xitang. He told me that there was a restaurant outside the scenic area with a relatively good location that was up for sale, and he strongly recommended me to take it over. In my plan, I indeed needed a restaurant in Xitang, so I agreed, making arrangements to meet him at noon to look at it. So it was time for me to return to Xitang.
After getting up and washing up, I prepared breakfast for Mi Cai, but I myself had no appetite, only drinking a bowl of porridge. Before leaving, I came to her door, hesitated for a while, and then knocked, asking, “Are you awake?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’ve made breakfast for you. Remember to eat it after you get up.”
Mi Cai didn’t respond.
I felt a wave of sadness in my heart. After a long silence, I spoke to her again, “I’m going back to Xitang now. I won’t come to Suzhou for a while. If you have time, come find me. I’ll always be waiting for you in Xitang!”
Mi Cai remained silent. I didn’t want to open her door to disturb her. Finally, I said to her, “…If you still want to believe in me, remember that I’m waiting for you in Xitang. Come find me…”
After saying that, I placed Mi Cai’s car keys on the coffee table in the living room, slung my luggage bag over my shoulder, and left this old house, which had once recorded our joys and sorrows, with a heavy heart.
…
Around noon, I finally returned to Xitang. Feng picked me up from the station in his car. On the way, he kept introducing the basic situation of the restaurant that was up for sale, but I remained somewhat distracted. I really didn’t know what Mi Cai was thinking now. Would she come to Xitang to find me one of these days, or would I only receive a phone call from her proposing a breakup…
Passing by a bank, I asked Feng to stop the car. I went inside and withdrew fifty thousand yuan in cash to pay the employees’ salaries for this month. I also checked the balance in my card, and to my surprise, there was still a full 360,000 yuan left. In just over a month, I had earned more than I had in several years of salary before. But I felt no joy at all… Perhaps what I loved most was not my career or money, but her!
The so-called career and money were only the foundation for my desire to love her well. But would she understand that? I don’t know. I don’t even know whether she will come to Xitang to find me or not!
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